UW Men’s Rodeo Team Runner-up at EWC, Cowgirls Third

For the first time during the combined fall and spring rodeo seasons, the University of Wyoming men’s team did not win a Central Rocky Mountain Region (CRMR) weekly competition. The Cowboys were second last weekend.

But just barely.

At the latest regional rodeo, hosted by Eastern Wyoming College (EWC) in Torrington, Casper College became the first CRMR team to take the men’s team title other than the Cowboys. The T-Birds put together their best outing of the season, scoring a team-best 800 points to edge out the UW men by just five points. Laramie County Community College (LCCC) was third with 489 points.

The Cowboys won half of the six men’s events at EWC and placed second in another, but Casper College had five points team members score between 115 and 180 individual points to use its overall depth to overtake the UW men.

The results showed that the Cowboys individually did well in each of their events:

-- Austin Hurlburt, of Norfolk, Neb., did not place among the top six in the opening round of tie down roping, but he pulled through with the short go round’s top time to give him the overall average win.

-- Brice Patterson, from Bozeman, Mont., had two solid bareback riding marks in winning both the short go and the average to take the event for the first time this season.

-- Regional all-around leader Garrett Uptain, from Craig, Colo., won the opening round of saddle bronc riding and had the second-best mark in the short go to give him the win in the average.

-- Chadron Coffield, from Yuma, Colo., successfully threw down his steers for the fastest time in the opening round, and he was second best in the short go to wind up as the bulldogging’s runner-up in the average.

-- Cameron Jensen, from Hyannis, Neb., added to the team’s output with two steady rounds in tie down roping to place among the top six in both runs. He finished second in the average.

-- Kemmerer’s Donny Proffit won the opening round of the bareback riding competition, but he did not mark in the short go and placed sixth in the average.

Among the non-points team members who did well last weekend, Drake Amundson, of Wheatland, was fourth in the bareback riding average; and Jaxson Mirabal, from Magdalena, N.M., placed third in saddle bronc riding and split third place in tie down roping.

For the season, the Cowboys remain in tight control of the regional lead and are nearing the 6,000-point mark for total team points. Through seven fall and spring competitions, the UW men have 5,930 points, owning a 900-point advantage over the second-place T-Birds club. LCCC is third in the CRMR standings at 2,705.

The Cowgirls’ stay atop the regional leader board lasted a week when the UW women placed third at EWC. Gillette College won the weekly rodeo with 385 points and, in the process, reclaimed its CRMR lead. The host Lancers were second with 300 points, while the Cowgirls had 280.

Gillette College has the overall CRMR lead with 1,995 points, just 70 ahead of the second-place Cowgirls. Casper College remains third at 1,350.

The three Cowgirls who scored points for the team were:

-- Kelsey Lensegrav, from Interior, S.D., continued to give the Cowgirls a strong contingent in goat tying when she placed in both rounds to place second in the average.

-- Riata Day, of Fleming, Colo., added to her overall goat tying regional lead when she came through in the short go to give the Cowgirls fourth-place points in the overall average.

-- Taylour Latham, from Roosevelt, Utah, was the third Cowgirl to score points for the team by placing third in the breakaway roping’s short go, which put her fourth in the average.

A couple of non-points team members also placed in the weekend rodeo: Big Piney’s Karson Bradley was fifth in the barrel racing average; and Tatum Runner, of Wellington, Colo., split sixth place in breakaway roping.

The UW team will hit the road this weekend for the Colorado State University rodeo.